Why Marketers Should Be More Focused on Video

We’ve all heard the saying about a picture being worth a thousand words. If that’s the case, then a video is probably the equivalent of a book or two.

For marketers, video is an extremely valuable tool—one that can really pay off. Many marketers are reluctant to invest the time, money and effort involved in creating video, but if handled correctly, this tactic can lead to big rewards.

Video is more important—and more accessible—to users now than ever before. For one thing, people now expect it as part of their online experience, especially since videos are becoming a more common element on social media sites. And thanks to smartphones and more sophisticated video devices, people can now view videos in more ways and from more locations.

Video makes content more visually interesting, and attracts viewers’ attention long enough to prompt them to check out the rest of your material. It’s also a great way to demonstrate a point or get a message across—often in cases where explaining the idea in text would be difficult or less effective. (In fact, recent research compiled by Quicksprout showed that videos increased people’s understanding of products by 74%.)

A very valuable bonus for marketers: video is easy to share, and is the type of thing users (especially those who are active on social media) are more likely to pass along to their friends and contacts. This can be huge, since it greatly increases the potential reach of your message, and can lead to countless new potential leads.

Of course, you must plan your video carefully and make sure it fits in with your larger content strategy and your goals. And there are also the SEO issues to consider. Like any other type of content, video is affected by Hummingbird, the new Google algorithm. To get the best search rankings, keep the same things in mind as you would for other type of content. Make sure your video is relevant, and ideally answers a question users may be asking. Also, make sure the accompanying content (such as the landing page) is unique and of high quality.